Do only big cities innovate? : technological maturity and the location of innovation

Innovation enhances economic performance. High rates of innovation are associated with high rates of productivity growth, and faster productivity growth leads to higher real wages and improvements in standards of living. Consequently, many local policymakers are eager to encourage higher rates of innovation in their areas. Theoretical and empirical studies of the geography of innovation find that relatively populous regions are the most conducive to innovative activity. Large and densely populated places offer more developed markets for the specialized inputs used in innovation. Populous places also offer innovators greater opportunities to learn from one another. On the surface, these findings seem to offer little hope to smaller, more sparsely populated regions—places that would like to compete for innovative activity and the benefits of a knowledge economy. Are large populations a prerequisite for innovation? Orlando and Verba explore this common perception and find it is not always true. More populous regions dominate in relatively new technological fields, where innovations are more original. But less populous regions can compete in relatively mature technological fields, where innovations are more incremental. This finding should be of interest to research and development professionals—and to policymakers who are seeking ways to enhance regional innovative activity.Cities and towns

What can regional manufacturing surveys tell us? lessons from the Tenth District

The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City conducts a monthly survey of over 100 manufacturers across the Tenth District. Other Federal Reserve Banks conduct similar surveys of manufacturers within their districts, as do a number of regional associations of purchasing managers. ; The increased attention paid to regional manufacturing surveys makes it important to know what kind of information these surveys provide. These surveys differ from other data sources by collecting only qualitative information, such as the direction of change in activity. The surveys could be useful either because they tell us something about regional manufacturing conditions, or because they signal something about manufacturing conditions in the nation as a whole. ; Another issue is whether the main contribution of the surveys is timely information about current conditions or accurate forecasts of future conditions. Finally, in deciding whether the surveys are worth the time and effort of conducting them, it is important to know whether they add any information beyond that contained in other publicly available data on the manufacturing sector—data such as industrial production and manufacturing employment. ; Keeton and Verba address these issues by examining the information content of the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Survey. They conclude that the main value of the survey is providing information about current and future manufacturing conditions in the district, especially on variables such as production, orders, and capital spending, for which no independent data exist at the regional level The Kansas City Fed survey can also be a useful source of indirect information about national manufacturing conditions. In particular, results from the survey can be combined with similar information from other regions to obtain a more complete picture of national manufacturing activity than is available from other published data.Federal Reserve District, 10th

Social capital and political participation: understanding the dynamics of young people's political disengagement in contemporary Britain

Only 37 per cent of young people voted at the 2005 British General Election, seemingly confirming the oft-cited view that this generation is becoming increasingly disconnected from the political process. Results from a nationwide survey however, indicate that their withdrawal from formal politics is more a result of their scepticism of the way the political system operates, than apathy. Furthermore, they are diverse in their political (dis)engagement. Results from an examination of the relative effects of socio-economic location and social capital are inconclusive, although the data indicate that government social policy aimed at mobilising social capital and addressing socio-economic issues may increase civic engagement

Social capital and political participation: understanding the dynamics of young people's political disengagement in contemporary Britain

Only 37 per cent of young people voted at the 2005 British General Election, seemingly confirming the oft-cited view that this generation is becoming increasingly disconnected from the political process. Results from a nationwide survey however, indicate that their withdrawal from formal politics is more a result of their scepticism of the way the political system operates, than apathy. Furthermore, they are diverse in their political (dis)engagement. Results from an examination of the relative effects of socio-economic location and social capital are inconclusive, although the data indicate that government social policy aimed at mobilising social capital and addressing socio-economic issues may increase civic engagement

Fairness, Equality, and Democracy: Three Big Words

In this paper I will focus on what might be meant by fairness in a democratic regime. There may be more general fairness criteria applicable to any political system, democratic or authoritarian, but fairness in relation to political decisions is especially central in a democracy. Democratic regimes are supposed to be run by the citizenry, or at least the citizenry ought to be the ultimate authority. Democracies depend on legitimacy to function effectively; only when a regime is considered legitimate can it rule by consent rather than coercion. Democratic regimes cannot rely on coercion to govern and long remain democratic. Thus, public acceptance is important. This also explains why the public determination of what is fair, both as a matter of principle and in the evaluation of particular actions of particular governments, is central in democratic rule.Governmen

Predictors of Child and Adolescent Bias and Flexibility in the Attractiveness Domain

Children often associate positive attributes with high attractive peers and negative attributes with low attractive peers (bias), although some think both peers have positive attributes and neither has negative attributes (flexibility). Children also believe those they think positively of will think positively of them (positive bias reciprocation/positive flexibility reciprocation) and such beliefs in reciprocation predict bias and flexibility. Given the negative effects of bias (i.e., differential attributions based on one’s attractiveness) and the positive effects of flexibility, this study investigated individual differences in children and adolescent’s attractiveness biases and flexibility. Specifically, the author examined whether 9-11-year-olds and 14-16-year-olds’ beliefs in reciprocation mediated the associations among self-esteem, perspective-taking ability, and bias and among self-esteem, perspective-taking ability, and flexibility in the attractiveness domain. Participants (N=104) completed measures of self-esteem and perspective-taking and a task in which they assigned positive and negative attributes and considered who would reciprocate positive evaluations to faces differing in attractiveness. Participants could choose one of the two faces (i.e., displaying bias), or both or neither of the faces (i.e., displaying flexibility). For both age groups, participants’ beliefs in positive flexibility reciprocation mediated the association between self-esteem and flexibility and perspective-taking ability and flexibility, whereas these abilities were unrelated to their bias. Results suggest bias and flexibility activate two different cognitive mechanisms. Efforts to improve children and adolescent’s self-esteem and perspective-taking ability might increase flexible thinking, but predictors of bias need to be further explored

The Internet and Civic Engagement

Based on a survey, analyzes how socioeconomic status and other demographics correlate with online and offline political and civic engagement. Explores suggestions that younger generations' political use of social media may alter such patterns

Le contrat éducatif local. L'exemple d'Argenteuil

Cette étude universitaire préalable à la mise en place d'un contrat éducatif local a d'abord permis un diagnostic territorial des positions et des souhaits des différents partenaires concernés par un éventuel aménagement des temps et des activités des enfants : enseignants, intervenants locaux, parents, enfants. Elle a débouché ensuite sur un ensemble de préconisations qui, pour l'essentiel portent sur le cadre formel et organisationnel du contrat, sur les conditions et les modalités du partenariat, et non sur ses contenus

Would the Dream of Political Equality Turn out to Be a Nightmare?

Governmen

FROM PARTIAL TO FULL-ENOUGH RECOVERY: A DEVELOPMENTAL MODEL OF RECOVERY FROM EATING DISORDERS

Questions about the nature of recovery from eating disorders have long divided the field. While one view purports that eating disorders are chronic conditions, other viewpoints maintain that full recovery from eating disorders is possible. The literature suggests the existence of levels of recovery: a) “partial” recovery, which includes remission of behavioral and physical of symptoms, in the absence of psychological remission, and b) “full” recovery, which includes remission of behavioral, physical and psychological symptoms. In-depth interviews with women in long-term recovery from anorexia and/or bulimia were conducted, transcribed and analyzed in order to develop a grounded theory of the progression within the recovery process. This dissertation considers the phenomenology of phases of recovery; individual experiences of levels of recovery; and, how change, specifically from early recovery going forward, occurs. Findings suggest a developmental process of recovery with central themes defining each stage. Participants’ in the study described nuanced experiences of recovery that lay between chronicity and complete freedom from all vestiges of the disorder. The dissertation proposes a model comprised of three-stages: 1) early recovery, which is dominated by a focus on behavioral change and seeking guidance from external sources, 2) transitional recovery in which change processes that introduce an inward focus emerge; and, 3) “full-enough” recovery, a stage marked by the presence of a flexible sense of self-trust. The term, “full-enough” recovery was developed to convey the participants’ experiences of a recovery that allows them both to acknowledge the presence of occasional mental remnants of the disorder and engage fully in their lives